The sermon for the Fourth Sunday after Holy Trinity.
Third Sunday after Holy Trinity
Third Sunday after Holy Trinity
Parable of the Lost Sheep & Coin
Grace and mercy to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
It is written: Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him. 2 And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.” 3 So he told them this parable:... Thus far the text.
Let us pray: Gracious Father, who finds lost sheep and lost coins, find us and rejoice over us for we are lost without You; in the name of Jesus. Amen.
JESUS FOUND YOU. THANKS BE TO GOD.
Like lost lost sheep, Jesus is the Shepherd who found you.
Like the lost coin, Jesus is the Woman who found you.
And now what does the Lord do? He rejoices over you with singing (Zech). For you were lost but now are found.
BUT SOME OF YOU STILL GRUMBLE AT SUCH GRACE.
The Wednesday Bible study group had a good discussion about accepting a repentant sinner back into the fold. It is as difficult to discipline unrepentant Christians as it is to demonstrate love and forgiveness to the Christian who has repented.
The particular public unrepentant sin that St. Paul addressed in the Corinthian letters concerned a family in the Corinthian congregation. The sin was that a young man had his mother…It’s called incest. (I’m being discreet). The congregation did not want to deal with the problem. Could we blame them? The family was in all other respects a good family. St. Paul needed to persuade them that it was unloving to let this ongoing, publicly known sin continue in the congregation. The effect of breaking God’s Word in such a way brings grief to all involved. False teaching and unrepentant lifestyles cause people to fall from the faith. So, the congregation, reluctantly, removed the young man from the Lord’s table and rebuked him SO THAT he might repent and return to the Lord.
And so it happened. The young man repented. He agreed with God’s Law that his action was against the will of the Lord. He agreed with the Lord that his action was born from sin and unbelief. He stopped the action and asked for mercy.
Which lead us back to the Parables of the Lost Sheep and the Lost Coin.
It is written: And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, “(Jesus) receives sinners and eats with them.”
It could easily be said this way: And the Corinthian congregation grumbled, saying, “St. Paul receives practicers of incest and eats with them in Holy Communion.”
But, the Law has worked repentance in the man. The incest is stopped. He is now despairing of the grace and mercy of God.
So it is with the “tax collectors and sinners (who) were all drawing near to hear (Jesus)”. They were despairing under the weight of their sin. They needed the Gospel. They needed to be found by the Lord.
So Jesus speaks a parable to the Pharisees and scribes, the Corinthian congregation, and to the whole church on earth including Our Savior Lutheran Church in Muscatine. The parable is this:
4 “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it? 5 And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. 6 And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’ 7 Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.
WHAT IS OUR REPENTANCE FOR THIS MORNING?
What is our repentance for this morning? It might be to forgive a repentant homosexual and accept him back into the fold of our congregation. If you are that repentant homosexual you are welcome in the Lord’s house because Jesus found you with His Word like a Shepherd finding His lost sheep.
What is our repentance for this morning? It might be to forgive a woman who is repentant of her abortion and accept her back into the fold of our congregation. If you are that repentant lady (or repentant boyfriend, or repentant husband, or repentant family member who supported the abortion) you are welcome in the Lord’s house because Jesus found you with His Word like a Woman finding her lost coin.
Finally, and most importantly, what is our repentance for this morning? It might be be to forgive a person who is repentant of denying the inerrancy and power of God’s Word and parables and accept that person back into the fold of the congregation. If you are that person you are welcome in the Lord’s house because Jesus found you with His Word.
As Jesus says in first Peter: 6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of (our Father) so that at the proper time He may exalt you, 7 casting all your anxieties on (Me, Jesus), because (I, Jesus, am taking care of you).
JESUS IS TAKING CARE OF YOU
Jesus is taking care of you. He is like a mother who finds her baby crying. What does she do? She cradles the baby in her arms. She comforts her baby. She takes care of her baby.
Jesus pardons your iniquity.
Jesus does not retain his anger (against you) forever.
Rather, Jesus delights in steadfast love toward you.
Jesus will again have compassion on you.
Jesus will tread (your) iniquities underfoot.
Jesus will cast all (your) sins into the depths of the sea.
Jesus will show faithfulness to Jacob and steadfast love to Abraham and to Our Savior Lutheran Church.
Jesus has sworn this to our fathers from the days of old.
JESUS FOUND YOU. THANKS BE TO GOD.
Like a lost sheep, Jesus is the Shepherd who found you.
Like a lost coin, Jesus is the Woman who found you.
And now what does the Lord do? He rejoices over you with singing (Zech). For you were lost but now are found; in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. (Amen)
The peace of God, which passes understanding, guard and keep you in Jesus Christ, our Savior. (Amen)
Matins Service June 13, 2018
Matins Service
P – O Lord, open Thou my lips.
C – And my mouth shall show forth Thy praise midi
P – Makes haste O God, to deliver me.
C – Make haste to help me, O God. midi
Glory be to the Father and to the Son
And to the Holy Ghost
As it was in the beginning, is now,
And every shall be; world without end.
Amen. Hallelujah! midi
The Invitatory
P – O come, let us worship the Lord;
C – For he is our Maker midi
The Venite
O come let us sing unto the Lord
Let us make a joyful noise to the Rock of our salvation.
Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving;
And make a joyful noise unto Him with psalms.
For the Lord is a great God
And a great King above all gods.
In His hand are the deep places of the earth;
The strength of the hills is His also
The sea is His, and He made it;
And His hands formed the dry land.
Oh, come let us worship and bow down;
Let us kneel before the Lord our maker
For He is our God
And we are the people of His pasture
And the sheep of His hand.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son
And to the Holy Ghost
As it was in the beginning, is now,
And ever shall be; world without end. Amen. midi
Then shall
The Hymn
be sung.
The Psalmody
The Lection
P – But Thou, O Lord, have mercy upon us.
C – Thanks be to Thee, O Lord. midi
The Sermon
The Te Deum Laudamus
We praise Thee O God, we acknowledge Thee to be the Lord.
All the earth doth worship Thee, the Father Everlasting.
To Thee all the angels cry aloud, the heavens and all the powers therein;
To Thee cherubim and seraphim continually do cry;
Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of Sabaoth;
Heaven and earth are full of the majesty of Thy glory.
The glorious company of the Apostles praise Thee
The goodly fellowship of the prophets praise Thee;
The noble army of martyrs praise Thee;
The holy Church though all the world doth acknowledge Thee;
The Father of an infinite majesty; Thine adorable true and only Son,
Also the Holy Ghost, the Comforter.
Thou art the King of Glory, O Christ.
Thou are the everlasting Son of the Father.
When Thou tookest upon Thee to deleiver man;
Thou didst humble Thyself to be born of a virgin.
When Thou hadst overcome the sharpness of death,
Thou didst open the kingdom of heaven to all believers.
Thou sittest at the right hand of God
In the glory of the Father.
We believe that thou shalt come
To be our judge.
We therefore pray Thee to help Thy servants,
Whom Thou hast redeemed with Thy precious blood.
Make them to be numbered with Thy saints
In glory everlasting.
O Lord, save Thy people and bless Thine heritage.
Govern them and lift them up forever.
Day by day we magnify Thee,
And we worship Thy name ever, world without end.
Vouchsafe, O Lord, to keep us this day without sin,
O Lord have mercy upon us, have mercy upon us,
O Lord, let Thy mercy be upon us, as our trust is in Thee.
O Lord, in Thee have I trusted; let me never be confounded. midi
The Prayers
The Kyrie
Lord have mercy upon us,
Christ have mercy upon us,
Lord have mercy upon us. midi
The Lord's Prayer
Our Father, who are in heaven, hallowed be Thy name;
Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven;
Give us this day our daily bread and
Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us;
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil;
For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory;
Forever and ever. Amen.
The Salutation
P – The Lord be with you.
C – And with thy spirit midi
P – O Lord, our heavenly Father, almighty and everlasting God,
Who hast safely brought us to the beginning of this day,
Defend us in the same with Thy mighty power
And grant that all our doings, being ordered by Thy governance
May be righteous in Thy sight;
Through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord,
Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost
Ever one God, world without end.
C – Amen midi
The Benedicamus
P – Bless we the Lord
C – Thanks be to God midi
The Benediction
P – The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ
The love of God and the communion of the Holy Ghost
Be with you all.
C – Amen midi
Silent Prayer
First Sunday after Holy Trinity
Sermon Notes:
It is written: And he said, ‘No, father Abraham; but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ 31 But he said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead.’ ” Thus far the text.
Let us pray:
Our Lord sees two kinds of people. He doesn't look at outward appearances like we tend to do. Rather, it is the Lord alone who can look into the heart. He sees the rich kind of person and the poor kind of person but again this is the Lord's view of the state of your soul.
You can have no money and yet be rich like the rich man in today's parable.
Live paycheck by paycheck and angry you don't have more.
Not included by the popular kids at school but will do anything to be liked
Not included by the powerful managers and bosses at work and it gnaws at you.
Waste money playing the lottery hoping to make it rich one day.
There is a difference between being broke and being poor. If you are broke you might not make a mortgage or rent payment. Poor is a state of the mind and soul. The poor are never content; always need more. Broke can be fixed by saving and increasing income. If you are poor, whether wealthy or broke, whether popular or not, whether powerful or not, you will never have enough wealth, popularity, or power. If this is you then have found your repentance for this morning. Our Lord calls of you rich men. You were born rich. Rich in unbelief.
You can have a lot of money and still be a poor Lazarus but its really hard.
King David was wealthy but preferred to remain a shepherd than a king. He was content to trust Christ
Job was the richest and wisest man in the east but he clung to the Lord even when he lost
everything.
The Law of God exposes the richness of your soul. You were born rich to yourself. Like the rich man in today's parable, you feasted sumptuously on rich food in Sunday School, Divine Service, and confirmation classes but do not believe in Jesus. You are the rich men who come to the Lord's Table but care nothing about the unbelievers in your midst. John the Baptist is correct.
10 Jesus was in the world, and the world was made through Jesus, yet the world did not know Jesus. 11 Jesus came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.
These rich souls are within Jesus' own people, the church. The rich souls look to externals. Rich souls look at an empty pew but do not pray to the Lord of the harvest. Rather, they jump to strategory such as Friendship Sundays, build a new more attractive sanctuary, or plan a service in the park to witness to the surrounding community. What is neglected are those within the congregation who did receive Jesus. What is wrong with that? Because...
The good news is that the Gospel of God makes you poor. Again, John the Baptist is correct.
12 But as many as received Jesus, to them Jesus gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: 13 who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
The Lord has made you poor to the wealth of your own soul. Poor souls are in Christ. They look into their souls and find only a wealth of sin and unbelief. You recognize that you are so poor toward God that you fear you will even remain in the faith. Poor believing souls look at an empty pew and pray to our Father and beg Him for things like: O Father, keep in the faith. O Lord, have mercy on my friend who does not believe in You. Almighty God, thank you for granting us this holy place and making it beautiful with Your presence and continue to grant us the scraps that fall from Your altar. Lord of the Church on earth, call poor men from around the world to preach and teach Your Word here at Our Savior and in Your assembly of poor souls around the world to the repentance of rich unbelievers and for the faith of poor believers.
How is this done? Returning to the Gospel of Luke: The rich man died in his unbelief and his body was buried. Now, hell is his home. Hell is a place of torment. Hell is an eternal lake of fire. The Lord says in Hebrews 9:
27It is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment,
The death of your body is the seal of your judgment. But it gets worse. It is written in Acts 24:15;
There will be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and the unjust.
Yes, the rich unbelievers will only suffer the torment of their souls for a time. On the Last Day, they too will be bodily resurrected from the dead only to return to hell, bodily, after the judgment. All rich unbelievers will die to all good things from the Lord. They share in good things now. They will die to all good things upon the death of their bodies. They will eventually die to all bodily good things as well.
What about poor believing Lazarus?
The Gospel calls you to a poor faith in Jesus. The parable says that in this life dogs licked Lazarus' sores. Your faith is a poor faith because right now your only comfort is to have your sins licked clean by hearing Moses and the prophets.
And poor Lazarus died in Christ and was carried to the bosom of Abraham. The bosom of Abraham in this parable is Moses and the prophets. We prefer to call it God's Word. Both God's Law and Gospel. The Law convicts you of your rich unbelief. The Gospel calls you to poor faith in Jesus. Poor because in this life your sores are licked, not by dogs, but with God's Word and Sacrament. This is your only comfort.
so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation.
The death of your body is the seal of your judgment unto eternal life. But it gets better. As I just mentioned, it is written
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